William Golding’s Insight on Obedience in Lord of The Flies

In William Golding’s insight on obedience in Lord of the Flies, he states that obedience comes from fear and a higher authority. He uses examples from the book to support his claim. The boys are afraid of the beast and the consequences of not following Ralph and Jack. They also obey Jack and Ralph because they are of higher authority. These factors lead to the boys following Jack and Ralph without question and performing the dances and chants that Jack orders. Milgram’s experiment also shows that people obey authority figures even when it means inflicting pain on someone. This experiment is relevant to the Lord of the Flies because it shows that people are willing to do anything an authority figure orders them to do, even if it is harmful.